Saturday, 2 June 2012

Dear All,Now that you have listened to some really good speakers - and inspiring talks - the next step is to start giving inspiring talks yourself! Since this is a skill - and, like any other skill, needs a bit of practice - I'd suggest you check out the Toastmasters. You can either go to their presentation at FDU on Wednesday, June 6th, at 6:00 pm (Room 130) or check out their website and go to one of their meetings in Greater Vancouver. Of course, you can also try out public speaking in other contexts, if you wish. In any case, please find topics that are important to you, so that you actually WANT to convince others! And please tell us about your experience! You can either post here or at: http://www.facebook.com/groups/271036742995040/

Saturday, 19 May 2012

Dear All,

Since I think it should be part of everybody’s university education to think about how to lead a meaningful life, I have selected a few youtube clips and other links in which this question is discussed from various angles.

Please select one (or more) of the clips and watch it (them) – and then tell the rest of us what you think about it (them). Your comments can be very personal in nature (for example, how you feel after watching the clip; what you think about the topic raised in the clip) or more general.You are also welcome to add links to other websites that discuss this or a similar topic.

Thursday, 19 January 2012

In myths - as well as in my other stories and movies - archetypes play an important role. Personally, I find archetypes a very fascinating topic, in particular since it seems that most of us - either consciously or subconsciously - use certain archetypes as role models.

If you are interested in what kinds of archetypes there are, here some links that give great overviews:

1) watch your favorite movie and see if you recognize any archetypes in it
2) read some stories or myths and try to find the archetypes in them
3) select the archetypes that you think describe your own personality best
4) watch some strangers when you are on the bus or sky train next and guess which archetype(s) they follow
5) pick the 3 to 12 archetypes that you like best and write a story with these archetypes as its main characters

Please post any interesting observations or stories in the comment section!

Tuesday, 10 January 2012

Thanks for finding my blog. I thought it would be really nice to start out by sharing some creation myths from around the world. So if you could find some links - or retell some myths for the rest of us - that would be very much appreciated!

I would like to start this "myth-sharing" by sharing a link to a myth whose main protagonist is a Bird - or more precisely, a raven. In fact, the protagonist is not only "a" raven, he is "the Raven" - the famous North-West Coast Trickster.

This website, though officially a site for kids, gives a pretty accurate description of Skaay's story (which was NOT a story for kids but for everybody). The original full-length version of the myth has been preserved -- even though Skaay never wrote it down himself -- because it has been transcribed word by word by the linguist John R. Swanton in 1900 and then translated by him with the help of a bilingual speaker.

Robert Bringhurst has retranslated all of Skaay's myths as well as all the myths of Skaay's contemporary Ghandl in his Haida Trilogy, which consists of an introduction to Haida literature (A Story as Sharp as a Knife) as well as one volume with Skaay's stories (Being in Being) and one with Ghandl's stories (9 Visits to the Mythworld). If you would like to get an on-line taste of Robert Bringhurst's translations, here is a YouTube clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ2Ohf8WK80&feature=related

Haida Master Carver Bill Reid and Robert Bringhurst have retold several "Raven Stories" in the book The Raven Steals the Light. One of these stories, "The Raven and the First Men," is particularly famous, since Bill Reid has also created a visual representation of the story in his gigantic wood sculpture "Raven and the Clamshell" that can be seen at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC (Vancouver, BC). The original miniature version of the sculpture fits in the palm of a human hand and also lives in the MOA, right next to its gigantic brother.

The Raven, in Haida Mythology, is a typical trickster figure (similar to Coyote or Nanabush). As you can see in the first story, he doesn't really "create" the world from scratch. Instead, he is travelling around - first to the Sky-World and then to the Sea-World - and encountering and interacting with various other beings. The creation of Haida Gwaii - a group o islands West of Prince Rupert (BC) - is only possible after visiting and experiencing various new places (Sky and Sea) and after having received a gift from the old man in the Sea as well as instructions about what to do with it. I think this is a very interesting and important message about the process of creation - and very different from the Western-European and North-American concept.

Photo by Peter Trimming

The Raven is not the only Bird that is important in Haida Mythology. The Eagle is just as important - and often used to (counter-) balance the Raven. Ravens and Eagles are also the two "moieties" in Haida culture: people are either of the Raven or of the Eagle side. Other Birds populate the Haida stories as well, including Grebes, Gulls, and Geese. Ghandl, for example, tells a wonderful story about a man who got marries to a Goose. The story can be accessed in Swanton's book as well as in Robert Bringhurst's. Gary Snyder has also been fascinated by that particular story and written about it extensively in his book He Who Hunted Birds in his Father's Village.

The Bird who keeps calling at the beginning of Skaay's version of the Raven Myth is neither an Eagle nor a Raven or a Goose but a Loon. The reason why the Loon is calling is the fact that the Haida Gods - or Spirit Beings - are homeless, that is, they have no places to live. The Raven hears the Loon's call and, consequently, promises to create places for the Gods. In other words, it is because of the Loon's calling that the Raven sets out on his journey and finally -- after his visit to the Sky World and to the Sea World -- and with the help of the One in the Sea and his gift -- manages to create Haida Gwaii as dwelling places for the homeless Gods.